Unexpected Affirmations

It’s great when life is going well. But we all know too well that sometimes it doesn’t.  Some days are out of control, other days are full of sadness or fear or disappointment or frustration. You know those days. On those days we often look for support to assure us that life will get better, that things will go on, that happier days are ahead.

A common source of that support is friends, loved ones or other important people in our lives. But the other day I got that support from a surprising source…my phone.  That’s right, my phone unexpectedly decided it wanted to give me support and assurance.  Without me even asking for it.

My phone has a pull-down screen that gives me messages about missed calls, new messages, reminders, etc. It also shows messages from installed programs. I had recently installed a new anti-virus program. Later when I pulled down the screen to check messages there it was…a wonderfully supportive message from my new anti-virus program.  It said LOOKOUT – Everything Is OK.

Now I know what it really meant…it was saying there was no problem with my phone. But in the moment it felt very different.  I really liked the way it shouted out to note that everything is ok. Look out is usually followed by a warning of something bad to come.  But not this time…it was a reminder to pay attention to the fact that nothing bad was happening.

It is so easy to focus on the things that go badly in life and to feel that they dominate our lives.  For most of us that just isn’t true. Most of our life is ok…we just don’t tend to notice that part as much.

It made me think about the ways we get may get messages of reassurance…In ways that we don’t usually think about and may not even realize.  For you it might be inside of a bottle cap or on the wrapper of a cough drop or on a tea bag.  You might have gotten some comfort from a fortune cookie lately.

Other messages may be imagery.  For some it might be as simple as seeing the sun rise in the morning or spotting a beautiful rainbow. It might be seeing an interaction between people, a caring moment or expression of love.  It might be as simple as finding a four leaf clover or a penny on the ground.  In reality those messages of assurance, the affirmations that life is ok are all around us.  It is just a matter of keeping our eyes open.

While I’m going to continue to keep looking I also have a new source.  One that can quickly remind me that life may not be as bad as it seems.  I encourage you to keep your eyes open and remember…LOOKOUT – Everything is ok!